


A Year and Everything to Show

by Scarlett_Lucian



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Banter, Birthday, Birthday Cake, F/M, Family, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Magic, Other, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25637827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlett_Lucian/pseuds/Scarlett_Lucian
Summary: It's Harry's first birthday and all the Marauders are gathered to celebrate the special day with Lily and James. But when the birthday boy cannot be found, the reason behind his disappearance may add another layer to the already exciting day!
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 3
Kudos: 36





	A Year and Everything to Show

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a little piece I whipped up to celebrate our dear Harry's birthday! I wanted to do something to celebrate and I'd been wanting to do a Marauders fic for awhile, so the two combined into this fluffy little thing! I have not written anything Marauders-based for years, so hopefully I did them all justice! Hope you enjoy!

Lily gazed down at the moving photograph in her hand. In it, an exhausted but beaming James was holding his newborn son, bouncing slightly from side to side in an effort to keep Harry settled while Lily got some post-labour sleep.

“It’s hard to believe that was a year ago,” James said, shaking his head in disbelief as he peered over her shoulder.

“I know. It’s Harry’s birthday, but I’m the one who feels older!” Lily laughed, sliding the picture back into the photo album alongside the other captured milestones from her son’s first year of life.

“Well, you don’t look it.” James pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Whereas I, on the other hand, nearly have a full head of grey hair!” He sighed mournfully, running a habitual hand through the hair in question, which was just as thick and dark as it had always been.

“I think silver looks very distinguished,” Lily said, turning away from the photo album to begin icing Harry’s cake.

“Oh, really?”

Lily felt James’s arms slide around her waist and she leaned back contentedly against his shoulder.

“Absolutely.”

“Well, I would have stopped dying it back in fourth year if I’d known that was the secret. Godric knows Sirius had given me enough even by then that it would have caught your attention.”

Lily snorted, the thought of a grey-haired fourth year James Potter nearly causing her to ice the counter instead of the chocolate cake. “You definitely would have gotten my attention, but not in a good way. I would have been at the head of the laughing and pointing mob that followed you around Hogwarts.”

A smirk entered James’s voice. “But I still would have had better hair than Snape.”

Lily paused for a moment, pretending to consider the matter, causing James to let out a horrified gasp. He pulled his arms away from her waist, stepping back so he could look her in the face, eyes wide behind his wire-rimmed glasses.

“You can’t honestly be telling me that you would rather Harry had been born with grease-soaked clumps instead of my lustrous locks?”

At the sound of the words ‘lustrous locks’, Lily couldn’t help herself any longer and her bitten back smile poured out in a stream of helpless giggles. James let out a sigh of relief, leaning faintly against the kitchen counter. 

“Thank Merlin. You really had me for a minute there, Evans.”

She smirked, turning back to the cake. “I know. And it’s Potter to you, thank you very much.”

James stepped forward, likely to show her how thankful he was for it, when the doorbell rang. Nimbly twisting away from his embrace, Lily tucked the cake into the refrigerator and made her way towards their front door, leaving James to sigh frustratedly at their interruption.

“Who is it?” He called out irritably.

“Take a guess, idiot!” A cheery voice called out from outside.

“Sirius, that isn’t very polite!” Another voice hissed in admonishment.

“It doesn’t have to be polite if it’s true.”

“You know that’s not how that works. We’ve talked about this.”

“You mean we’ve had fights about this. Quarrels! Lovers’ spats!”

“Yes.”

“Well, it’s different this time! I mean, come on Moony! I’m Lily and James’s Secret Keeper! I know for a fact that you, me, Pete, and Dumbledore are the only ones who visit them and as nice as Dumbledore is, I don’t exactly see him attending Harry’s birthday party.”

A new voice piped up. “I’m sorry, Remus, but I’m with Padfoot on this one.”

At this deciding remark, all the voices began to squabble loudly, making a collective noise that sounded uncomfortably like a herd of dying hippogriffs. Lily raised an eyebrow at James, nodding towards the door and mouthing “Should I let them in?”

James grinned, his intended advances towards his wife long forgotten. He threw open the door, revealing Remus, Sirius, and Peter, who were all frowning and waving their arms emphatically as they argued. Lily would have bet ten galleons that Sirius had been the instigator of the arm waving.

“James! Thank Godric!” Remus exclaimed upon seeing his friend. “You can help me settle this once and for all. Do you think that—”

But he was interrupted by Sirius, who had bounded into the entryway to catch James in a tight hug, as if he hadn’t visited only two days ago and instead been separated from him for over twelve years.

“Where’s the birthday boy?” He asked eagerly, moving to give Lily a hug that was just as bone-crunching, if not quite as enthusiastic, as the one he had given her husband.

“Napping finally and we’d like to keep it that way for a bit longer, so if you all would just lower your voices just a tad,” Lily suggested weakly, knowing that her request was unlikely to be heeded.

Remus smiled sympathetically, coming over and giving her a less injuring squeeze than his boyfriend. “Sorry in advance,” he whispered in her ear.

Lily waved him off. “I knew full well what I was getting into when I said yes to James. As crazy as it sounds, I was well aware that I was marrying into a family and a very loud one at that.”

“You’re right, you are crazy,” Peter agreed, ambling over to their circle and eyeing his two friends wearily. James and Sirius were now engaged in a heated debate about the skill set of Puddlemere United’s former seeker compared to their new one and it looked as though it might come to blows.

Anxious to avoid any fist fights before they had even gotten to the cake, Lily grabbed both of the boys’ elbows and dragged them into the living room, seating them on opposite ends of the room.

“Both of you listen close, we are all going to sit and have a nice, calm conversation before we get Harry up for cake, alright? Alright.” She stared sternly at James and Sirius, who both kept their gazes fixated on the floor in order to avoid her’s.

Satisfied, Lily sat down on the arm of James’s chair, crossing her legs primly, and took on a far more pleasant conversational tone. “Now, Remus, how are you?”

The werewolf slid onto the worn love seat beside Sirius, settling his arm around his temporarily chastened boyfriend’s shoulder. “Not bad. Dumbledore has me working on some research stuff, so that’s keeping me pretty busy. What about you and James? How’s Harry? Sirius said he took his first step the other day.”

James beamed proudly. “Yeah, I was dangling the little Snitch you and Padfoot got for him and he was so determined to catch it, he let go of the coffee table and stepped over to grab it out of my hand! I think we may have found that seeker we always were missing for our pick-up games!”

“Hopefully he’ll be as good as Yuric,” Sirius muttered, referencing Puddlemere’s rookie seeker.

“Or Greene!” James stood up, eyes blazing, ready to defend the previous position holder.

“Boys!” Lily snapped. “If you don’t stop bickering right now, I’ll see to it that Harry never touches a broomstick in his life.”

They stared at her with mute horror, not daring to say another word, least the possibility of their future seeker be jeopardized. Lily caught the edge of a smirk Remus was trying to hide behind his hand.

“What about you, Pete?” James offered meekly, in an obvious attempt to show he had left the previous topic truly behind so as to preserve his son’s future Quidditch career.

Wormtail fidgeted, uncomfortable with the sudden focus of attention. “Fine.” He shrugged. “Nothing much out of the ordinary. Busy. That’s why I haven’t had a chance to come around in a while.”

Remus nodded. “It’s been too long for me as well. Harry’s sure to have grown a foot since I last saw him!”

Sirius slid a comforting arm around Moony’s shoulders, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “It certainly isn’t like the old days.”

A somber quiet fell over the living room at his words. Lily reached down for James’s hand and he gently squeezed her’s, his familiar warmth chasing away the aching cold brought on by the thought of the war raging outside.

“I’m going to go get Harry,” James announced, after the moment had dragged on for far too long.

Immediately, everyone’s faces brightened at one of the few good things that had happened in the past few years.

“Yes, good idea, love,” Lily said, sliding down to sit in James’s chair once he got up, curling into the warmth he had left lingering in the cushions. 

“I hope he remembers me,” Remus said worriedly.

“Of course he’ll remember you!” Lily scolded. “You’re the only one of his uncles who is anywhere close to sane. That leaves an irreversible impression. I know it did when I first met you all.”

“Hear that James?” Sirius called out loudly, eyes twinkling mischievously. “Moony made a better impression on Lily at first than you!”

Remus sighed fondly, rolling his eyes. “Although I have continued to hang around with you lot even after witnessing all your craziness for myself, so how sane does that really make me?”

“James!”

“Touche,” Lily admitted, grinning.

“James!” Sirius’s voice cracked from exertion at the end of his last shout, sending the room into a burst of laughter that Lily knew they should all be too mature for.

Sirius pouted.

“What are you all, five?” He demanded.

“Well your reaction begs the question, what are _you_ , TWO?” Peter said, snickering unabashedly.

Growling, Sirius stood, yanking one of Lily’s quilted throw pillows from behind Remus. He marched towards Peter, shaking the pillow as menacingly as a pink stuffed square could be shaken. He caught sight of James, who had re-entered the room, and pointed at the pillow’s twin, which was woefully misshapen due to him having sat directly on it.

“Prongs, you must help me avenge my honour, since apparently my loving boyfriend won’t!” Sirius glared pointedly at Remus, who looked as though he was doing all he could not to break out laughing. As it were, Lily felt sure that she could see him trembling with the effort.

But instead of rushing to his friend’s aid, flattened pillow at the ready, James stared at Sirius with frantic eyes. “I can’t find Harry.”

“What?” Sirius said impatiently, not really listening as he inched towards Peter.

“I said I can’t find Harry!” James sunk into Sirius’s vacated seat, tugging at his hair.

Lily’s stomach knotted tightly at his repeated words, “What do you mean, ‘you can’t find Harry’? What the hell is going on, James? Where is our son?”

He shook his head helplessly, clutching his mussed locks even tighter. “I don’t know! I went into his room and he wasn’t in his crib! Oh Merlin, I am the worst father ever! I survived learning how to change a diaper and cleaning up spit up and countless sleepless nights only to lose my only child before he even got a chance to properly turn a year old!” He buried his face in his hands, smooshing his glasses uncomfortably against his forehead.

Lily began pacing in a circle, hands wringing anxiously as she tried to keep herself calm for both Harry’s and James’s sakes.

“Okay, okay.” She sucked in a deep breath, raking her hands through her curls, tucking them behind her ears. “It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay. Alright, Peter, you take the kitchen and the dining room. Remus, you and Sirius are going to search the rest of the main floor. James and I will check the rooms upstairs and—”

“Accio Harry!”

Everyone turned to stare at Peter, who had his wand drawn and was scanning the air as if Harry was going to shoot up from his hiding placing.

“Wormy, you do know that you can’t summon living things, right?” Remus said gently.

Peter blushed, tucking his wand away. “Figured it was a worth a try,” he mumbled.

“Give a shout if you find him!” Lily instructed, tugging James behind her and up the stairs to the second floor where their bedroom, Harry’s room, and a small bathroom led off of a narrow hallway. She ducked into Harry’s room first, scanning the sparse furnishings with the hope that James had somehow misplaced his glasses in the moment and had been too blind to see that Harry was still sleeping in his crib where they’d left him hours before.

“I’m so sorry, Lily!” James moaned, still fisting his hair with one hand as he peered under Harry’s crib. “I knew that the first year was too good to be true. I’m not cut out to be a father!”

“James,” Lily admonished gently, sinking down to sit on the floor beside him. “Don’t say that. You are a wonderful father.”

He shook his head, unruly hair falling over the top of his wire frames. “No, you are a wonderful mother. I’m just the guy who tries not to get in the way while you’re doing it.”

“James Potter, you know that’s not true!” Lily protested forcefully. “Any child would be lucky to have you as a father and I am so honoured that you are Harry’s. You love him so much and take such good care of him. These past few years in hiding have been really hard for all of us, but there is no one else I would rather have with me. You are the reason that I am able to keep going day after day and I love you beyond words.”

Lily leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to James’s mouth. “Is that clear enough for you?”

James grinned sheepishly. “Yeah. I guess it’s just hard to believe it’s all real sometimes. You and Harry are everything that I’ve ever wanted. And I still don’t know what I did to deserve you both.”

“Well, it definitely wasn’t your Quidditch skills, sharp though they were.” Lily rolled her eyes, smiling.

He smirked back at her, winking in a manner very reminiscent of the schoolboy he had been only a short while ago. “Thought my Quidditch skills were sharp, did you Evans? I knew you weren’t impervious.”

Lily flushed inadvertently, glancing away. “In your dreams. And remember, it’s Potter.”

At the sound of their now shared sir name, James wrapped an arm around Lily’s waist, tugging her closer while leaning in to—

“JAMES! LILY! I FOUND HIM! I FOUND HARRY!”

“Speaking of Potters!” Lily jumped up, the motion smacking James’s head back against the sturdy wooden slates of Harry’s crib. She gasped, bending down to inspect her groaning husband for damage. “Oh Merlin, I’m so sorry, James, are you okay?”

He waved her off, stumbling to his feet. “Fine,” he said, grimacing as he rubbed the back of his head. “I’m right behind you.”

Lily fairly flew down the stairs, following the excited chatter of voices into the kitchen. There, the rest of the Marauders were crowded around Harry, who was sitting beside the now half-smashed cake, blinking up innocently with wide emerald eyes. Lily pushed past the boys and scooped up her son, cradling him close to her chest. Her heart was pounding wildly and she let out a gusting sigh of relief, glad to have him back in her arms.

Harry squirmed at her tightening embrace, hands flailing recklessly through the air.

James burst into the kitchen, a hand still pressed to his head, and looked as though he might faint once he caught sight of Harry babbling safely in Lily’s arms.

“Oh, thank Godric!” He said fervently, sagging against the counter.

“I found him just sitting there, eating some of the cake,” Peter said, gesturing towards the broken chunks smooshed against the floorboards.

“But how did he get down here? And the cake, how did he get it out of the refrigerator?” Lily asked, staring at Harry in bafflement as she wiped off his chocolate coated hands with a cleaning rag.

“Merlin’s robes, I think he— oww, shit, not again!” James cradled his head, which, in his excitement, he had smashed against an open cupboard door.

“James, language in front of Harry!” Lily scolded, frowning.

“Sorry, sorry!” He said, wincing from the pain but plunging on. “I think Harry might have done his first magic!”

The kitchen was dead silent as everyone absorbed James’s words. Then a cacophony of simultaneous exclamations began:

“Can it even happen that young?”

“I’ve never been a prouder godfather than now!”

“Oh my god, James! Harry, did you do magic, sweetheart?”

“You cried when Harry rolled over for the first time!”

“Lily, our son is a genius!”

“AND the second time too!”

“Peter, Padfoot cried EVERY time Harry rolled over until he started crawling. And then he just switched to crying about that!”

“Say ‘magic’ Harry! Please! For your godfather, Padfoot!”

“Hey, don’t you use that tone, Prongs. _I_ was the one who had to listen to him tearfully recount every incident before going to bed each night.”

“Shame about that cake, I was really looking forward to a piece.”

“SAY ‘MAGIC’!”

Meanwhile Harry, who was just as bewildered about what had just happened as everyone else, and was now being surrounded by shouting grown-ups, burst into tears, howling louder than the rest of them combined. The Marauders were struck into silence as Lily glared at them while she attempted to soothe Harry.

“Shhh, love, it’s okay! We’re all just so excited for you!” Lily kissed the top of his dark fluff, wiping away the fat tears that were starting to slowly dry up.

A sparkling thrill ran through her as she stared down at her son, who was going to be a part of the magical world that had changed her life. There, she had found friends and family. These wonderful boys who now surrounded her and Harry with undisguised love glowing in their eyes. Peter. Remus. Sirius. And her James, who looked so proud that he might start bawling louder than Harry at any moment. Her closest loved ones. And someday her son would get to go off to Hogwarts and meet the people who would change his life.

Quietly, Lily whispered into her baby’s ear: “Happy birthday. You’re a wizard, Harry!”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, there you go! Let me know in the comments how I did with the Marauders! It has been awhile! Kudos and comments are always appreciated! Happy Harry Potter's birthday to you all!


End file.
